Method of making a hydrocarbon liquid suitable for use in internal-combustion engines.



D. R. MOARTHUR. METHOD OF MAKING A HYDROGARBON LIQUID SUITABLE. FOR USE IN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28, 1913.

1 1 1 9 ,974. Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

1 N i E N g N I E s? 55* l: i E E 0 J Li ,L w V v V w Irzaezzz fldmw/wrdw ED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DONALD R. MOARTHUR, 0F BRADFORD, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR 0F TWO-THIRDS TO EDGAR W. TAIT, OF BRADFORD, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD MAKING A HYDROCARBON LIQUID SUITABLE FOR USE IN INTERNAL- COMB'USTION ENGINES.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

Application filed June 28, 1913. Serial No. 776,299.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DONALD R. MoAR- THUR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bradford, Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Method of Making a Hydrocarbon Liquid Suitable for Use in Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of certain new and useful improvements in the art or method of making a hydrocarbon liquid suitable for use in internal combustion engines.

My process consists in exposing to compression and the heat resulting from compression natural gas and commingling it with a higher liquid paraffin, and then cooling and collecting the resultantv to form a liquid of lower specific gravity than that of the higher liquid paraffin.

In carrying out my process I compress,by any known method of compression, natural gas to a pressure of one hundred pounds per square inch or more, (the exact pressure preferable depending on the quality of the natural gas used and on the desired specific gravity of the product). At a point a few inches from where the compressed gas leaves the compressor, or at any further point where the necessary heat is still maintained I commingle with the natural gas kerosene, naphtha or other higher paraflins in either a liquid or gaseous form, preferably by in jecting the higher paraffin by means of a force pump or other device. I inject this higher paraffin preferably through a smaller tube of about half the diameter of the pipe carrying the compressed natural gas; the length of this tube varies according to the quality of the natural gas used and accord ing to the rapidity with which the compressed gas istraveling through the system; at the end of this tube is a hole or needle valve through which the higher paraffin escapes into, and commingles with, the compressed natural gas; it is preferable, and better results may be obtained, if the needlevalve is so adjusted that it will not allow the higher paraffin to escape through it until there is a considerably greater pressure in the tube through which the higher paraffin is passing than there is in the pipe through which the compressed natural gas is passing, the effect being to keep the in pipe K.

higher paraffin before it is commingled with the natural gas at a constant pressure greater than. the pressure on the natural gas; good results have been obtained by maintaining in the tube a pressure one hundred pounds higher than in the larger pipe through which the compressed natural gas is traveling. I then cool and collect the commingled hydrocarbons, the hydrocarbons of thenatural gas being condensed into a liquid with the hydrocarbons of the higher paraffin used, and the resultant being a hydrocarbon liquid suitable for use in internal combustion engines. The cooling and collecting may be effected by any known method, such as passing the commingled hydrocarbons through a long worm of pipe until they are sufliciently cooled,'thence into a receiving tank; additional cooling may be had by expanding the compressed unconsumed gas in the tank into a tank or pipe incasing the worm in which the commingledhydrocarbons are traveling.

The accompanying drawing represents a diagrannnatic view of means for carrying out my process. I

In this drawing the gas inlet is shown at A entering a tank B where its impurities are deposited; thence the natural gas passes through pipe (I to a compressor D and thence through a pipe E.

The oil tank is shown at F and the oil pump at G, an engine H operating both the compressor and the pump preferably. The oil is conveyed through a pipe I'and through the tube N which is inserted within the pipe K. At the end of tube N is a valve 0 which retains a pressure of several pounds more on the oil in the tube N than on the gas in pipe K, before it releases the oil into pipe K where it commingles with the compressed natural gas which has beentraveling \Vhile in the tube N theoil is heated by the hot gas surrounding the tube N, and after the oil and gas are commingled the commingled substances are further subjected to the heat resulting-from the compression of the natural gas. From the point of commingling the conuningled substances are conveyed through a pipe K to cooling pipes L, and thence the hydrocarbon liquid suitable for use in internal combustion engines passes into tank M.

In carrying out my process I secure additional cooling by jacketing part of the A typical instance of operating my process would be as follows: T introduce natural gas into the compressor at the rate of 4,000 cubic feet per hour. In the first or low stage of the compressor the gas is compressed to a pressure of about 40 pounds per square inch; it passes thence into the second or high stage of the compressor Where additional compression is bad The oil or other paraffin is injected into the compressed natural gas at the rate of about 4:0 gallons per hour. This oil may be a naphtha of to 56 Baum gravity, or it may be a heavier oil. The relief valve is set so that a pressure of 225 pounds persquare inch is maintained on the system. The valve at the end of the tube N is set so that there is a pressure of 350 pounds per square inch on the oilin the tube N. The cooling system is composed of pipe two inches in diameter and about 800 feet in length, of which the last 200 feet are incased or jacketed. The

relief valve 0 releases the unconsumed gas in the receiving tank whenever the pressure on the receiving tank reaches 225 pounds per square inch. Better results are obtained when using natural gas containing a high percentage of ethane or higher paraffin's.

W hat T claim and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is:

1. The process of making a hydrocarbon liquid suitable for use in internal combustion engines by subjecting to compression and exposing to the heat resulting from the compression, compressed natural gas and commingling it. with a higher liquid parantenna afiin, and then cooling and collecting the resultant to form a liquid of lower specific gravity than that of the higher liquid paraliin,

2. The process of'making a hydrocarbon liquid suitable for use in internal combus tion engines by subjecting to compression and exposing to the heat-resulting from the compression, compressed natural gas and commingling it with an atomized or vaporized higher paraffin, and then cooling and condensing the resultant to form a liquid of lower specific gravity than that of the higher paraffin.

3. The process of making a hydrocarbon liquid suitable for use in internal combustion engines by compressing natural gas and subjecting to a greater pressure a higher liquid paraflin, and subjecting the higher liquid paraiiin while under the greater pressure to the heat resulting fronithe compression, and then, while the proper degree of heat is still maintained, mingling in proper proportion the compressed natural gas and the higher liquid paraffin, and then cooling and collecting the resultant to form a liquid of lower specific gravity than that of the higher liquid paratfin.

r. The process of making a hydrocarbon liquid suitable for use in internal combustion engines by compressing natural gas and subjecting to a greater pressure an atomized or vaporized higher paratiin, and, while the proper degree of heat is still maintained on the natural gas and the higher paraifin, mingling in proper proportion the compressed natural gas and the higher paraiiin, and then cooling and condensing the resultant to Torin a liquid of lower specific gravity thanthat of the higher parafin In testimony whereof, ll affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

KATHARINE BURKE, Essen Terr. 

